LEAFS GET PROPS; DOMINATOR'S DONE

A little bit softer, now, a little bit louder now . . .

Once they award that Stanley Cup, it's all about freedom from hockey, and there will only be comments when absolutely necessary.

First off, with the Ottawa Senators signing goalie Martin Gerber, Dominik Hasek has officially gone from saviour to see-you-later faster than Howard Dean in 2004.

The Leafs signed hulking defencemen Pavel Kubina (6-foot-4, 230) and Hal Gill (6-7, 250), begging the question of whether GM John Ferguson Jr. is building a hockey team or is putting together a rugby squad and figures Kubina and Gill would make a good set of props.

Seriously, though, this is an upgrade over the Holy Trinity of pylon-ism, Aki Berg, Wade Belak and Ken Klee, but almost anything would have been.

Kubina and Bryan McCabe will probably pair up, while Gill, who has limited puck-handling skills, will probably have to play with Thomas Kaberle.

Another question that's begging for an answer: what does this do for the kids who came up from the AHL Marlies last season? Staffan Kronwall, who's supposed to have huge upside, may end up being a top-four defenceman (Gill is really a No. 5), and Belak is still under contract.

That leaves little role with the big club for Brendan Bell, Jay Harrison, Ian White and Carlo Colaiacovo, thus making them available to be traded for some past-his-prime geezer. It's the Leafs way.

Sorry for the cynicism, but you know the history: Sixty-seven! Sixty-seven! Bottom line: the Leafs improved yesterday, and can probably contend now for sixth or seventh spot in the Eastern Conference, although it's way too early to tell.

OTHER FREE-AGENT STUFF

• The Boston Bruins finally blew the dust off their wallets by signing Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara, but if there had been some way Ottawa could have afforded to keep Chara and Wade Redden, you can bet they would have been screaming bloody murder about tampering charges, considering Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli had to to stay at his Ottawa post until June 15.
• Have you ever been feeling down because money was tight, so you tried to cheer yourself up by ordering pizza and buying half-a-dozen DVDs from the $3/20 bin? That's pretty much what the salary cap-challenged Colorado Avalanche did in signing Tyler Arnason, who was worse than useless in his Ottawa stint last season.
• Rob Blake, the pride of Simcoe, Ont., did the more or less expected thing and rejoined the L.A. Kings, where he spent his first 10½ seasons and still has a home.

That's all for now. Send your thoughts to neatesager@yahoo.ca.